Spicy Interludes
S08E13 - The Twist in the Plot
"A successful tantric session lasts seven, eight hours and can cause extreme, sometimes painful, muscle fatigue." - Brennan
One: An Introduction to Tantric Sex
Booth sat up against the headboard of the bed, flipping through the e-book he'd bought on Bones' tablet as he listened carefully for the shower to turn off in the other room. The page he was reading had diagrams that were, to say the least, more like a sketchbook porno mag, but every time he tried to flip to the next page, the whole screen jiggled, zooming in and out uncontrollably.
"What are you doing?"
Bones' voice startled him. The shower was still running in the bathroom. He hadn't expected her to be standing there drippy and wrapped quickly in a towel.
"What?" he asked, dropping the tablet onto the bed like it was scalding his hand. "What are you doing?" he asked, turning the question around to avoid answering but also because he was genuinely curious.
"I forgot to bring the new body scrub that I bought into the bathroom with me." she explained. 'W-what are you doing with my tablet?" she asked again, and he glanced at the offending tablet laying face down on the bedspread next to his leg.
"Why didn't you just holler? I could have brought your scrub in." he offered, ignoring her question altogether.
"I did." she replied slowly, moving closer to the bed. "You clearly didn't hear me as you were distracted by something." she added, tilting her head to the side in thought. "What were you doing?" she asked again like a damn dog with a bone.
"Bones, did you leave the water running? You should really go finish your shower." he reminded her, but she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Why are you being so evasive?" she questioned him, taking a step closer and glancing down at the tablet.
"Look, I'm sorry I touched your stuff without asking. I just, I was doing some reading, that's all." he tried to offer a vague explanation that would satisfy her curiosity. He was clearly not thinking straight because he was dead wrong.
"You hate the e-reader. In fact, you vehemently refused to read an article I wanted to show you this morning simply because it wasn't in a physical magazine." she pointed out. He had made a pretty big point and ranted and raved about his need to feel the paper in his hand. She had in turn accused him of destroying the rainforest with his stubborn behavior. She wasn't wrong; he did hate the stupid tablet, but it wasn't the type of book he wanted to go pick up at a store, and the delivery would have take 3 - 5 business days if he ordered it. He needed some answers now.
"You know, Bones, maybe all your talk about killing the rainforest really struck me, and I'm trying to, you know, turn over a new leaf." he countered with a smirk at his own pun. "You should take a page out of your own e-book and go finish your shower. Leaving the water running like that can't be doing the rainforest any favors. That's all I'm sayin'' he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding toward the steamy bathroom. "The rainforest ain't gonna save itself, Bones." he added, shaking his head in disapproval.
She frowned at him, her brow crinkling with her own disapproval as she snatched the forgotten body scrub off of her dresser and stalked back into the bathroom. He waited a few moments after the door closed before he snatched up the tablet again, tilting his head at the porny pretzel sketch again.
By the time Bones finished her shower and was returning to their bedroom, he had given up on trying to flip the damn page on the stupid e-book and closed it, shutting off her tablet and tucking it back in her nightstand where he'd taken it from.
"I hope you didn't lose my page." she muttered as she climbed into bed next to him, pulling the covers over her lap and retrieving the tablet. He glanced nervously over at her, flipping the next page on the graphic novel he'd picked up from his own night stand after giving up on the e-book.
"Of course I didn't." he told her, hoping he sounded convincing. He couldn't be sure he hadn't deleted her library, let alone lost her spot in the book she was reading.
"You bought a book about tantric sex?" she asked, and he nearly choked. He glanced furtively over at her. How the hell did she find that so fast? He denied it, shaking his head, and pretending to be engrossed in his own reading. "Booth, the payment confirmation is right here in my email. It's time stamped for earlier when you were being so secretive. The e-book is here in my library." she pointed out, raising her eyebrows at him. "I didn't order it from the shower." she told him in a tone that left no room for him to deny it any further.
"Ok, yes. I– I was curious after, you know, that Mirza guy mentioned it, and you seemed to, uh, know about it. I– wanted to see what it was that could make sex last seven hours, all right?" he told her, trying to shrug it off. "It's natural, you know, to look things up when you aren't sure about them." he defended when she didn't say anything. "Why are you smiling at me like that?" he asked, unable to fight his own smile twitching at the corners of his mouth when he turned his head to find her grinning at him with her eyes wide and maybe just a little wild. She gave him the same expression the time she asked him to use his handcuffs on her… in bed.
"What did you think? Would you want to try some of it?" she asked in a rushed whisper. She was clearly excited, and he wasn't sure if it should excite him or terrify him.
"I don't know what I thought, Bones. Your stupid tablet is defective. I couldn't get past the first page, and I'll tell you what, that position did not look comfortable." he confessed, nodding his head toward the tablet in her hand.
He watched warily as she clicked open the e-book, and the page he'd been stuck on populated. He felt a warm blush hit his cheeks. He knew he had nothing to be ashamed of. It wasn't like he did anything wrong, but he couldn't help the slight embarrassment he felt. They had a great sex life; why would they need to try any weird pretzel sex anyways?
"Oh, yes, you're correct. This particular position is quite advanced. In fact, I believe this is a combination of both Tantra and Kama Sutra." she said, turning the tablet toward him. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Booth, relax. It's perfectly healthy to want to explore your sexuality with your partner." She reminded him like he was some kind of prude. "I actually find it… particularly exciting that you were doing research into this." she murmured with a crooked grin.
"Look, it was just a curiosity, all right." he told her, trying to act as nonchalant about it as possible. They'd been moderately adventurous together, in so much as having sex in places that may or may not get them fired, fined, or arrested, but it was no secret to him that Bones liked to walk a little more on the wild side than he'd ever broached.
"Are you… still curious?" she asked, putting the tablet down and shifting closer to him. He knew exactly what the tone in her voice meant and usually it would get his motor revving for some sweet love-making, but the mischievous glint in her eye gave him pause. "It's not all like that, you know." she explained in a soft, dulcet tone, her hand stroking over his thigh through the bedspread. "It's mostly about connecting with your lover on a more spiritual level. I think you'd actually find many aspects of it not dissimilar to some of your religious rituals." she explained, nuzzling her nose into his neck and placing small pecks on his skin. "It's a perfect night for us to try something new. Max has Christine… Sweets has a date with that nanny he met at the park…" she reminded him, as if he needed reminding that their friend had inadvertently used their baby to pick up chicks. If his hardening cock was any indication to either of them, he was pretty sure he was going to cave into her request any second.
"What– what exactly would be involved?" He asked, and she sat up with a triumphant looking grin. She'd played him like a damn fiddle. When did she learn to do that?
"When Westerners mention tantric sex, they're typically referring to neotantra." She explained, her whole demeanor turning into Professor Brennan. He had a few naughty hot for teacher fantasies he wouldn't mind acting out right about now if he was being entirely honest with himself. "Traditional tantra involves an element of worship to religious deities."
"Uh… wait. So this is, like, creepy cult sex?" he asked, suddenly turned off as he thought of all the weird cults they'd seen.
"No, Booth, no. It's essentially… yoga sex, but it does have roots, much like yoga, in spirituality." she explained to him. He did, very much, enjoy watching her do yoga. He had very fond memories of their early relationship when they were living in cramped apartments and the yoga took place right in front of his couch, typically ending with him hard as a rock and coaxing her down onto his lap for some sweet, sweet lovin'.
"I don't have to stand on my head or anything?" he asked, still feeling wary about opening this particular can of worms, but her giggle warmed his heart. She was excited and giddy about this. He could give it a shot.
"No. We'd start with very simple things. Gazing, touching, massaging… it combines breathing, sounds, movements and focus." she explained. He liked the idea of a nice back rub, that's for sure. "It's about connecting and synchronizing as much as it is about sex. It is understood that the practice can enhance and prolong the orgasm, not to mention facilitate multiple orgasms for both parties." she told him, an enticing little lilt to her voice. "You trust me, don't you? I wouldn't ask you to do something you wouldn't enjoy." she added, raising a brow at him.
"I don't know, you made me go to the dentist last week, and I didn't much enjoy that." he muttered, receiving a dramatic eye roll from his partner. "All right. Let's try it. You– you gotta walk me through this." he agreed. He did trust her. He trusted her with his life, and if she was going to make him try anything even remotely close to that first sketch in his book, he really would be putting his life in her hands.
"The first practice is very easy. We need to create our sacred space." she told him matter-of-factly. "Pick up your dirty underwear off of the floor while I go get some candles." she instructed him, hopping out of bed and scurrying out of the room.
Rolling his eyes, he walked over toward the hamper, grabbing his boxers up off of the floor directly in front of it and tossing them in. He idly wondered if she'd made that part up just to get him to pick up his underwear.
"Perfect!" she exclaimed as she reentered the bedroom, her arms loaded with what appeared to be every candle, scented or otherwise, that they had around the house. "We need to create a calm, relaxed space." she informed him, setting the haul of candles onto the bed and picking up a few of them. "Help me put these around the bedroom and light them?" she asked, stopping directly in front of him and leaning in to press a sweet kiss to the corner of his mouth. "I'm glad you're being so open to trying this." she murmured in a way that melted his heart before pressing another kiss to his lips this time.
Smiling, he picked up some candles and set them about on the various surfaces around their room, lighting them as he went. With their task complete, he flicked off the lights and met her at the end of the bed.
"What do we do now that we have our sacred space?" he asked, fighting a silly grin. It was romantic, the dark room illuminated by a dozen flickering candles, but he was still feeling a little silly and nervous about what she had in store for him.
"Soul gazing is a good starting point." she told him in such a serious tone, he almost believed her. "What?" she demanded when he let loose a little chuckle.
"You don't believe in souls." he pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest, and giving her a challenging expression.
"It's just what it's called, Booth. It is also called eye gazing, but I thought you would appreciate a more authentic and spiritual experience." she informed him haughtily. "Now, place the pillows in the center of the bed and disrobe." she instructed him. He liked the disrobing part. Soul gazing didn't sound too bad either.
Booth stood tentatively, watching as Bones shimmied out of her satin nighty and crawled onto their bed, sitting cross-legged on one of the many useless pillows that only occupied their bed when nobody was actually in it. He smirked, taking her in in all her beautiful glory. The sound of her clearing her throat drew his attention back up to her glare which was a suspicious mix of disapproval and impatience. Without further delay and lacking any kind of seductive fanfare, he shucked his sleep pants off and followed suit, settling himself on the pillow directly in front of Bones.
"Now what?" he asked quietly, unwilling to disturb the peacefulness that seemed to wash over their bedroom.
"Now we state our intentions for this tantric session." she explained, and Booth smirked. "Not like that." she scolded him like a naughty school boy. "For example, my intention for this session is to express with my body how much I love and cherish you." she told him with a shy smile.
"Bones…" he murmured, taken aback by her little flicker of romantic whimsy. "All right… My intention for this is to show you how much I love and trust you to guide me through a new experience… with my body…." he attempted. Though his didn't sound nearly as romantic as hers did, he felt like it was a pretty honest admission. Clearing his throat when the silence stretched a little longer than he was comfortable with, he shrugged at her soft smile. "Let's, uh, get some soul gazing done, huh?" he suggested, and she nodded, her blue eyes glittering like tiny galaxies in the candlelight.
"Sit up straight." she instructed, adjusting her own posture as well. "Now, we look directly into each other's eyes, gazing and appreciating the divine spark and life force of the person you love." she explained, rolling her eyes a little. "Though I don't believe that eyes are windows or any such nonsense, as you know, I do know that I always see love and adoration when I look into your eyes, so I can appreciate that aspect of your divine spark." she explained, and he smirked. Of course she had to rationalize the spiritual parts of the practice. "We'll start with just five minutes of gazing. We can focus on synchronizing our breathing while we gaze." she explained, and he nodded, rolling his shoulders and focusing his eyes on hers.
He felt his breathing slow and match hers, inhaling and exhaling slowly in unison. "You blinked." he muttered quietly with a breathy laugh.
"It's not a staring contest, Booth. You can blink." she teased with a smirk.
He let a soft smile rest on his face as he gazed into her eyes, watching them sparkle, listening to the sounds of their slow, even breathing. He had no sense of the passage of time, letting thoughts of all of the things he loved about Bones flow through him, hoping he was conveying that love through his eyes. He could see her own love for him shining in her eyes, he was sure of it. He wanted so badly to just reach out and touch her, stroke her face, hold her hand, anything really. He just had this overwhelming urge to connect with her. She must have sensed that because he felt her hand suddenly, warmly stroking over his forearm.
"I like this next stage." she whispered. "It's called Hands on Hearts Circuit." she explained. Cover your own heart with both of your hands." she instructed in a soft, dreamy tone, demonstrating by placing her hands on her chest. He copied her and waited, keeping their breaths in-sync. "Feel the magnitude of your love for your partner well up in your chest as you inhale." she murmured, keeping her eyes locked with his. "Now, reach out and place your right hand over your lover's heart." she told him, reaching out and pressing her warm palm against his chest. He copied her again, feeling her soft, warm flesh under his palm. "Now place your left hand over your partner's where it lies over your heart." she continued, her voice barely a whisper. He could listen to her whisper like that forever.
Smiling, he brought his left hand up, covering her smaller, delicate hand with his own. He surrendered to the urge to stroke his thumb back and forth over the back of her hand a few times, hoping his gaze was expressing how much he loved her. "Synchronize our breathing again. Do this for ten breaths." she instructed him, and he focused on the slow rise and fall of both their chests under their joined hands.
